Codey calls turnpike off limits for shipping nerve agent residue

Associated Press

TRENTON, N.J. - The state will use every means possible to prevent federal officials from using the New Jersey Turnpike to haul the residue from neutralized VX nerve agent to a Delaware River disposal site in Salem County, acting Gov. Richard J. Codey's office said Wednesday.

Codey sent a letter to Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey, putting the federal government on notice. Codey also directed the Turnpike Authority to coordinate with the state police and other agencies to take whatever action is needed to block the VX transport.

Workers at the Newport Chemical Agency Disposal Facility in Indiana have begun destroying the VX nerve agent stockpile to neutralize more than 250,000 gallons. The end product is a chemical called hydrolysate, which the Army compares to drain cleaner.

Military officials estimate that it would take more than two years to destroy the nerve agent and dispose of the byproduct through DuPont's Chambers Works plant in Deepwater.

In May, state environmental officials said they would not issue a permit to allow DuPont to further treat the VX byproduct before it's dumped into the river.

The DEP cited a report by the Centers for Disease Control that said that it could not guarantee that all traces of the deadly chemical would be removed from the material leaving the Indiana facility.

Army officials did not immediately return a call by The Associated Press seeking comment.